“Every morning I am newly amazed at the inexhaustible richness of these tiny and delicate structures. That I thrust myself with sheer passion on these scientific treasures, which are simultaneously so pleasing to the aesthetic eye, you can well imagine.”

Ernst Haeckel traveled the world. The cumination of Ernst Haeckel’s journey in 1873 to Egypt was his visit to the surreal coral banks of Tur in the Red Sea. His exploration of the banks was expedited by the use of a steamer, which Ismail Pasha, Egypt’s Khedive and the dedicatee of the volume, put at his disposal. Landscape painting was a lifelong hobby of Haeckel’s. He painted numerous scenes in watercolor during his travels, some of which are reproduced here in chromolithographic plates. Rare Books copy from the library of Horst E. Schober.